Charges filed in $700K pizza shop scam

A Lancaster County man charged in a $50,000 scam over a donut shop is now accused of bilking investors out of more than $700,000 in a scheme involving a pizza business.

William H. Brown, 50, of Gordonville, is in county prison in lieu of $1 million bail on the new charges, the district attorney's office said Tuesday.

Investigators said Brown solicited money from more than 50 victims, but never invested most of their cash into Fox's Pizza Dens of Lancaster LLC. A franchise agreement barred Brown from selling shares in the enterprise.

The scope of the pizza scam was so wide that the lead investigator, county Detective James Zahm, held public meetings in January to try to identify victims. Any other victims can call the DA's office at 717-299-8100.